2-4-96	Letting Your Light Shine	Isaiah 58:1-12

1 Corinthians 2:1-12

Return to Sermon Index	Matthew 5:13-20

In our gospel lesson for today, Jesus compared the people of God to salt and to light. Of course, both salt and light are important to life. Each has a definite purpose that cannot be denied. Indeed, without salt and light, life would quickly come to a stop.

Take salt, for instance. When we say "salt," the first thing we think about is its taste. We use salt to season our food. We like it in our popcorn and on our peanuts and pretzels. And why do you suppose they call those little white crackers "saltines"? Even persons on low salt diets need some salt in their diet. For if you don't have enough salt in your system, you'll get sick or worse. But, more than that, salt is important in our life for other reasons. Salt was the prime means of preserving food. Meat and fish and all brine-covered food (like olives) depended upon salt to keep them fresh and palatable. Without salt-preserved foods, before refrigeration came along, the days between harvests would have been very lean.

But, there something else about salt's use in Jesus' day that has been forgotten, for the most part. Scholars have learned that salt was also used by farmers in Palestine to increase the fertility of soil. Farmers would take the less expensive salt and throw it upon their fields and trample it into the soil in order to restore lost chemical nutrients. This was just another way that salt helped put food on the table.

So, here's something else for us to learn about our spiritual lives from this scripture passage. Jesus' admonition that salt that has lost it's flavor should be thrown onto the ground and trampled in is perhaps more an observation for the life of the church. Indeed, there are Christians who are salty – who really make an effort to make a difference in the world – who constantly proclaim the gospel in the way they live and work and talk. But God has a use even for those Christians who are for various reasons unable or not called to do this: Even these Christians have value, even if it means being trampled on or walked on at times.

But, in each of these cases, salt is something that has to be scattered over or spread around in order to be effective. Salt that is stored up by itself was not useful as a preservative, or to fertilize or to give flavor. Salt has to be sprinkled around. As a metaphor of discipleship, "salt" suggests that Jesus' followers are to be out and scattered about. To be "salt" is not a static identity; it is our evangelical mission into the world. Even if we are only used as "fertilizer," we should know that even salt trampled under foot gives new life to the earth as it is ground into the soil.

Yet, even with this admonition from Jesus to be "scattered around," there are those Christians who would see their Christianity only in terms of what they do on Sunday morning, of what church they belong to, of what they believe. And you wouldn't know they were Christians by their life during the rest of the week.

My wife has dishes and silverware like that. We were given china when we were married that we have only used for a few special occasions in the last twenty-two years we have been married. We keep it in our china closet and display it so that people can see it when they come into our dining room. We also have some sterling silverware that was given to us that we keep hidden away and only bring out for very special times. For everyday, though, we use the stoneware dishes that we bought eight years ago when we moved to Michigan. It's getting kind of cracked and chipped. But, it's what we use.

Christianity shouldn't be like the dishes and silverware we keep stashed for special occasions. Rather, our Christianity should be like those everyday dishes, used by the family and for when the just the neighbors come over. Our Christianity shouldn't be stored away, but used.

But our gospel lesson doesn't stop at telling us that we are like salt that is no good unless it is scattered. It also tells us, as Jesus said to his followers, "you are the light of the world."

Now, this is interesting, considering that Jesus was, himself, called the light of the world in John 8:12. So, the question we may ask is, If John calls Jesus is the light of the world, how can Matthew call Jesus' disciples be the light of the world? Perhaps this can best be explained this way: Jesus is the light of the world that stands on its own. But the illumination the is cast by Jesus' disciples is corporate. While salt must be scattered around to enhance its effectiveness, the light of discipleship must be gathered together into a "city built on a hill" in order to light the way. Within the communal, cooperative life of a city, the small flame of each disciple is magnified to create a powerful beacon in the night. Just as a city on a hill "cannot be hid," neither can the brilliance of the light produced by a community of true disciples of Jesus Christ. The church is to be the hilltop night light for the world.

So, it is important for churches to be visible, not just by the obvious presence of church buildings in a community, but also by the activity of the members of the church. Therefore, it is important that every church have programs that reach out into the community and bring people in — programs like Vacation Bible School, and dinners, and prayer meetings, and other activities that put the gospel at the door of every household in the area.

And because the small flame of each disciple is magnified by being involved with other Christians, how important it is that we all be involved in the life of the church! Unfortunately, we live in a go-it-alone society. Our technology makes it such that people are more and more lonely and more isolated than ever before. People don't depend upon their neighbors and their neighborhoods like they used to. And churches are affected by this, as well. More and more people have forsaken the light offered by the gathered fellowship of Christians for the glow of TV-religion in the privacy of individual living rooms to the detriment and peril of the local church.

And, yet, Christians shouldn't just look at themselves as corporate creatures. While the candle power we have while working together is important, the individual light that each of us puts forth is also important. That's why Jesus said that people don't light lamps and put them under a bowl. Rather, people put lamps on a stand so that they may give light to everyone in the house. Certainly, light is useless when it is covered up. It's simply a waste of oil.

Likewise God has given each of us the marvelous gift of the Gospel. God has given us Jesus Christ who came to set us free from sin and death so that we may boldly share our faith without fear. What a waste it when Christians hide what God has given them out of fear and do not share their faith with others! Even as individuals within the community, God wants us to share our faith. God wants us all to heal and be with the sick. God wants us all to visit the lonely. God wants us all to clothe and house and feed the needy. We can't be content with saying, "It's the minister's job," or "That's the job of Social Services or Salvation Army." For God wants us each to shed some light in this world.

But, more than this, we should remember that when we cover up a lamp with something like a bowl, as Jesus said, the flame will quickly use up all the oxygen and go out of its own accord. You either use it or loose it! If we don't let that light shine, the flame will simply go out. Likewise, if we aren't engaged in good works in the world, if we don't respond in a positive manner to the faith God has given to us and that we have in our hearts, that faith will surely die. But, we are involved with a ministry of good works — sharing the gospel, loving needy, feeding the hungry, visiting the lonely, that light will get stronger and brighter.

I am reminded of a poem	I wrote several years ago:

How shall we love our Sovereign God?

The scriptures give the key:

We'll loose the bonds of wilderness

And set the helpless free.

Let's share our bread with those in need,

The poor our company.

The naked shall be given clothes —

For God has clothed us well.

The hidden wisdom of our God,

To all the earth we tell.

The Spirit gives us many gifts

From God, Emanuel.

The poor in spirit, those who mourn,

The merciful, the meek,

The pure of heart, and those of peace,

The righteous and the weak,

Shall all receive the blessed prize

The lordly vainly seek.

For we are the salt of the earth:

The taste of God to bring.

And we are the light of the world:

God's glory we shall sing.

Amen.